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Two minutes away from the famous place "La bastille" and "Faubourg Saint Antoine"
He set up his small workshop which will be similar to many others, but the occupant doesn't look like everybody.
But Ludovic Avenel, a young french cabinet maker, 28 years decided to move forward with this old traditional job
Example with those revamped cabinet
These cabinets are the real replica of a cabinet made in 1912 by Paul Iribe and Clement Rousseau
It was a real work of illustration of the past, more than a basic copy.
It was all about - Understand the past by the copy. That was the main reason of the project
On that piece, I had to look for and apply the technics of "Art Deco" period
One of them is the process of Shagreen collage with all the other material
While copying, we try to be in Paul Iribe and Clement Rousseau's shoes
And we forget myself...
And then, I asked myself how would I make this piece in a different way?
So, I wish to make a new piece, But using current material and technics
And to show the contrast between "recycled material" and "noble" material
That one is a rubber, a composite material
That one is printed embossed paper
And then a gum resin for the remaining material
And finally, the "poor material" can be sublimed thanks to a research work on textures, colors, etc...
And we can reach many visual similarities Differences can be made almost only by touching the material
For instance, we can't notice that one is made of Rubber, gum resin and embossed paper
Whereas that one is made of Shagreen, ebony and slate
All the research lead me to this "double work"
Two twin sisters but different as well
One in the past, one in the present
and we'll even need a third one symbolizing the future with the new technological material
And to see how we could make this piece in 100 years. Might be interesting to see how we will make it
Don't dream, these twin cabinets are not for sale!
Ludovic Avenel keeps it for his own pleasure...
Why? Thanks to this incredible work, Ludovic has been awarded by "Liliane Bettencourt Award - Hand intellegency Award"
A major award for Ludovic who's aiming to keep developing the cabinet-making traditions with our Time.
This knowledge of "Savoir-faire" allows to move forward
Rather than repeat the past, this knowledge allows me to extend it...
Just by working and improving my knowledges on "savoir-faire", I can nourish my different projects
We have to show up this Culture, history of savoir faire in order to use it properly
I have always been interested in showing a material as we are not used to see it.
Today, we got a couple of competencies and skills from the industry improvement
Amazing tools has been offered by the Industry
And of course they help us to achieve a super level of quality
And I think we can use these tools which allow us to go deeper in our project.
Indeed, these tools contribute to the necessary rigour on our most craziest project
Be careful, I'm not saying it's substituting the Men's hand, it's just a tool helping the hand
We are now working on the 3D visualization
I'm drawing a piece which will be one element of the final piece which is a desk.
I'm currently working on the feet
I'm modelizing the piece in 3D instead of doing real model
This preliminary step allows me to already work on volume
The idea come from the stretching of the lines
And then from this idea, we make tiny models
And finally to check in real size, we are getting back to the computer
in order to check out the proportions, the feasibility, the aestheticism, the stability, etc...
"Christophe, What are you doing?"
I'm drawing the plan of the desk's gallery
The gallery which is composed of three drawers on pivot
Drawers on sliding system, and the upper shelf
What would be the material used?
It will be made in Sycamore wood, which is the following European precious wood
They will be made from this wood?
Exactly, Scale 1.
Ludovic Avenel, graduated from Ecole Boulle like Emilien and Christophe who are the core of the workshop
The company has been created in 2007
This creation is the culmination of this deep wish to make furniture as I see the furniture
Make the furniture is only a small part of the job
Today, we have to know how to sell a product, advise customers, explain the projects
All these knowledges are necessary to run its own Cabinet-making Company
We rarely have this complete panel of competencies
Either we acquire it by ourself, or find competencies through a team
Ludovic, Would you encourage young people to do this job?
Showing to young people this fabulous job is something very important for me
It's also showing they are many possibilities.
A lot of young people come to see me with their parents. And they are often worried to see their children on the way to manual jobs.
Ten or Fifteen years ago, I was already hearing these words
But actually, I really encourage them
The parents often tell me: "There is no opportunities" It's wrong, completely wrong
There are so many opportunities, you canno't imagine the quantity of opportunities
If they have the passion, don't worry they will succeed in their career!
So, I try to advise and support young people as they will find opportunities to open themselves on the world by doing this job
If it's a real wish, it's a fabulous job which can almost change our life!
Personally speaking, it's really rewarding
Six years ago, I started to learn the job of Cabinet-maker
And it's a passion which is coming from my childhood
I have always been passioned by working the material, and giving birth to Objects by using my hands.
I learned the job of cabinet-maker in a Profesional College but also through different internships
I really learn to love my job within my interships
The real first strong feeling to touch the material itself
And then, I kept learning through a "CAP" and "Profesionnal Baccaleureat", and finally at "Ecole Boulle" in Paris.
At the same time, I had the chance to participate to the European Program "ERASMUS" in Finland
Finland which is one of the leading country in Furniture Design.
For Ludovic Avenel, the Creation isn't something you make alone.
It's also the opportunity to collaborate with other players.
For instance this desk, there will be some wood but also some leather
There are some projects which move forward without drawings or plans
We share our ideas all together, it's very important
One advice brings another advices, and suddenly we find solutions... That's it
This is the mould which helped us to make the moulded part you can see here
Here we have a perfect flat surface made in batten wood
And then we have assembled different moulded parts
Here, we have used one mould and another mould to make the winged part
And then we worked the material to have the smoothiest possible surface and the expected thickness
The main body is veneered with Sycamore wood
To mould the wood, we use a special technic called "Poche à vide"
The empty space will veneer the wood against the mould. And once it's glued, the different wood sheets will keep the wished shape.
We could imagine that they are completely soft whereas they are rigid
As you can see we moved forward on the project, we made a couple of small models in order to better see the final expected results
Having a leather/wood assembled, I think it might be very interesting right?
I agree with you because the soft wood alone is very fragile, even a little breaking?
Yes, it's a major technical constraint.
And in this case, the leather will contribute to bring some rigidity to the wood.
Here it's a perfect example of collaboration, we both work apart but we spend a lot of time together to understand how we will process on the final piece
We saw that Computer, technical advancements and new materials are daily helpers for Ludovic Avenel
However, glue, lacquer, and other paintings are also essential components in the conception
Listen carefully to the story of this table named: "Arana"
The story of this table was born from the strenght of will to show what is usually hidden in our job: the feet
But as well, to enhance a method of feet assemble which are mixed together
I have been inspired by few things. I wanted to imitate the nature in order to innovate on the aesthetic and the technics
And suddenly, the piece was born, and it's now living
It's like a novel character, we create it, and then we loose it, he becomes someone with a different vision that originally planned
It was exactly the same feeling when I ended it up. I suddenly got some feelings that I didn't originally planned
Today, we have to show up our "Savoir-faire" and our creativity for the others
Offer to the others, some poetry, creativity and an Elegance through these pieces.
Finally, what we do is basically for himself, our personal convictions but as also for others.
It's almost an education...
Finally, The story of "Arana" or the Handcraft education